With all the junk the city wastes money on (Tolson Center, Jazz Festival, airport, etc) it does seem a little silly to let this go. At least pay to have the memorial itself moved to the plaza or someplace where people could actually stop to look at it without fear of getting mugged by a meth-head.

We can afford to buy dilapidated buildings, we can afford to buy new vehicles instead of fixing what we have, we can afford to write off tens of thousands of dollars that a non-profit owes the city for services already rendered, we can afford a pseudo mayor (aka mayors assistant) but the city cant afford to work out a deal with this property?

I understand not spending $35k on the property but coming up with a deal for the back taxes and maybe offering for the city to do the upkeep (grass, snow, etc)? Hopefully a group steps forward and keeps this monument going.

No mouse in my pocket, just my tax dollars being spent (thus the we, the city of Elkhart is owned by the citizens of Elkhart not the elected officials) and as a veteran it was always nice to see this parcel and I never realized it was not owned by the city until the last couple of years.